My New Tripod

The Gitzo GT1541T Carbon Fiber Tripod plus some heavy ball head..




I love it. Thats it. Full stop.

Its carbon fiber, light, simple and easy to use leg locking system , stable , good quality, short when folded.

Carbon Fiber makes it light and strong with some degree of vibration damping, plus, its carbon fiber!

Short when folded, how short? take a look at this photo:



extends to this tall, (taller than me if central stem extends):


Small enough to fit in my bag, (the red one that i always bring to school) such that i do not need to sling it over my shoulder (which attract lots of attention, as if camera hanging around neck attract enough attention liao)

Light, 1kg! Even lighter than a normal laptop even with the heavy ball head on.

Simple Leg locking system, SIMPLE. Grab all 3 locks, twist 1/2 turn, has a slight soft "click" when unlocked (dunno how to describe properly), as shown in the picture:



Once unlocked, Pull the bottom to desired length, and twist another 1/2 turn to lock!
Really fast and efficient, good for when you go exploring with impatient friends who cannot care less about photography! Packing it is the reverse of the above process.

Ball head is heavy but very smooth with quick release. Has a leveling gauge, can shoot portrait (sideways), big tightening nob so that u can tighten the head without looking away from your viewfinder.

Stable? Stable! At the bottom also got hook to hook weight to stabilize tripod.

Of course, then comes the gripes i have with it:
- ballhead is heavy(negate weight gain from light tripod)
- Tripod not high enough, need bend slightly (w/o central stem extended)
- Ballhead too big, den cannot fold tripod into smallest lenght (which involves folding it upsidedown)
- Top of tripod and bottom of ball head dont have locking system, sometimes nv screw properly den it will spin.
- Carbon fiber against nails produce nails on chalkboard effect
- damn expensive


Well but that said, this is one of the best tripods you can get, very good especially for travelling in other country during holiday, where you would not want to be lugging a long and heavy tripod around the whole day right?


one last picture, my camera on top of ball head, on top of tripod.

Even though the price is steep (1.2K total package), i feel that its worth it, instead of buying a cheapo one then wait you not satisfied with it then upgrade again. For this, buy liao den don ever need upgrade. Plus, you would not want your 1K plus camera and lens hitting the floor if the cheapo tripod legs give way right...